Newly Promoted Red Sox Flamethrower Made Leg Disability His Secret Weapon

Judge Boston's young pitcher by his gait, and you'll be sorely mistaken

Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

The Boston Red Sox promoted a reliever on Friday whose journey to the Majors is among the most uniquely inspiring in recent memory.

24-year-old hurler Luis Guerrero — who was drafted by Boston with the No. 496 overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft — has arrived in the bigs despite various scouts expressing doubts about his right knee disability, which Guerrero has harbored since he was just a year old.

After undergoing surgery to his knee, an infant Guerrero spent nine months in the hospital recovering, but the muscles in and around his knee never grew normally, and he’s had a heavy limp his entire life.

That hasn’t stopped Guerrero one bit.

The disability has not only become something Guerrero’s overcome but a barrier that he’s transformed into a weapon, both physically and mentally.

Guerrero’s remarkable story had already captured the attention of the Boston media before he was promoted on Friday. Last April, Boston Globe’s Alex Speier wrote a feature on Guerrero that acknowledged the confusion his condition gave scouts early on.

“At first glance, Guerrero does not look like someone who should be a top Red Sox bullpen prospect,” Speier said. “The righthander walks with a limp. His right leg — the one with which he pushes off on the rubber — drags stiffly.”

“The appearance of a physical limitation represented a source of initial concern — or at least confusion — to evaluators who saw him at Chipola,” Speier added.

“I got surgery in my knee when I was a year or so old. I was hospitalized for nine months,” said Guerrero, per Speier. “Those muscles didn’t grow up like the other muscles, so that’s why I have limited mobility in my knee. [But] for pitching, you just need to bend [the back knee] a little bit,” he added. “My knee bends just as much as I need it to.”

MassLive’s Christoper Smith also covered Guerrero this past February, when Guerrero revealed that his disabled leg is actually stronger than the other.

“I’ve lived my whole life with my leg like this,” (Guerrero) said, per Smith. “So I think for me, it’s nothing different. I feel like my (right) leg is stronger than the other leg. For me, it’s just something I’m used to. It’s nothing really different.”

Guerrero’s lower body certainly hasn’t prevented him from throwing gas.

“Guerrero throws heat,” Smith said. “He topped out at 102 mph last year, he said. He was up to 100.1 mph after a late-season promotion to Triple-A Worcester (Red Sox), per Statcast. He posted a 2.32 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 49 relief outings (54 ⅓ innings) combined between Double-A Portland and Worcester last year. Opponents batted just .157 against him.”

Beyond the physical prowess that Guerrero has retained despite his right knee disability, there’s also something to be said about the mental strength that Guerrero has built up through the years as a result of his condition. It’s this interior resilience that separates him from other prospects and has led to his success, as longtime scout Tom Kotchman noted in Speier’s feature.

“These guys (like Guerrero) have intangibles where they never take anything for granted,” said Kotchman, per Speier. “They just have something that’s obviously ingrained in them. That is a separator.”

Guerrero’s rise through the minors has been fueled by not only his fastball but his elite splitter, which has the potential to be a plus-pitch at the highest level. Guerrero was assigned to Double-A Portland Sea Dogs at the start of 2023 and then found himself promoted to Triple-A within the year.

Now, he’s made it all the way to Fenway Park, and he has his right knee to thank for it.

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